Mechanical toy



S. L. LONG MECHANICAL TOY Dec. 3, 1935.

1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 31,

Dec. 3, 1935.

S. L. LONG MECHANICAL TOY Filed July 31, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 from)? 69 l [my Patented Dec. 3, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

My present invention relates to improved mecanical toys and has among its important objects the provision of highly efficient and otherwise very desirable means for impelling the same.

5 The above noted and other important objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which illus- 10 trate the invention, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation, with some parts broken away, and some parts shown in sec- 15 tion, of one form of the device; the movable elements thereof being shown in a normal extreme position;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section-a1 view similar to a corresponding portion of Fig. 1, but illus- 20 trating the movable elements of the device in opposite extreme positions from that shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 3-4: of Fig. 2;

25 Fig. 4 is a detail sectional View taken on the line 4- 21 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a detail view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view in front elevation 30 of one of the roller-equipped legs of the device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig 7 is a view in longitudinal section with some parts broken away and some parts shown in full of another form of the device; and

35 Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 3--8 of Fig. '7.

Referring first to the device shown in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, the numeral l indicates as an entirety, a toy object shaped to simulate a dog.

40 The body of this toy object If] is made up of laterally spaced parallel sections II that are connected at their forward portions by a rigidly formed or secured .head and neck l2 and at their intermediate portions by rigid cross mem- 45 bers it. Mounted on the body for forward and rearward pivotal movements in respect thereto are forwardly and rearwardly located pairs of laterally spaced legs Hi and i5, respectively. Opposite legs of each pair of legs are located ad- 50 jacent opposite sides of the body H, the front legs it being mounted fast on opposite ends of a journaled shaft l6 and the rear legs 55 being likewise mounted on a journaled shaft 9?. The front and rear pairs of legs Hi and I5, respectively, are

5 connected for common substantially like forward and rearward pivotal movements by connections including levers l8 and I9, mounted fast on the intermediate portions of the journaled shafts it and I1, respectively, and a rigid link 28 pivoted to like extended ends of the levers i8 and 19 at 2|. These connections I8 and 251, inclusive, all being located in the space between the laterally spaced body sections H may be readily rendered completely invisible by applying a covering of paper or the like over the back of the body, as indicated at 22.

The lower end or foot portion of each leg is bifurcated at 23 to receive a roller 2 It is desirable, in order that the object will move progressively forward over a support under oscillatory pivotal movements of the legs It and He, that the rollers 24 be capable of rotation over a support in a forward direction only, and this is preferably and, as illustrated, accomplished by journalling the rollers to the foot portions of the legs I4 and It: by spindles 25, that are carried by the rollers and work in short slots 2% in opposite portions of bifurcated legs to permit slight forward and rearward horizontal movements of the rollers in respect to their associated 25 legs. When the rollers or wheels 24 are forced forwardly in respect to the legs, they engage brake and stop members 21 and become locked against rotation. When said rollers are forced rearwardly, they disengage the stop members 27 30 and are then free for rotation. Obviously, this arrangement will permit free forward rotation of the rollers 24 over a support, but will prevent rearward rotation thereof. The arrangement described for locking the rollers against rotation in one direction is broadly claimed in my prior Patent No. 1,914,515, issued of date June 20, 1933, entitled Mechanical toy.

As a means for imparting oscillatory forward and rearward pivotal movements to the legs M and I5 and producing a resultant forward movement of the object l0 while the operator is standing at a distance from the said object, I provide operating mechanism including a substantially non-compressible laterally flexible tube 28, a laterally flexible connection or pull cord 29 extending completely through and freely slidable in the tube 28, and a hand piece 3!]. The hand piece 39, preferably and as illustrated, is pistol-shaped and comprises a pistol-like hand grip 3i and a pistol barrel-like projection 32.

One end of the tube 28 is securely anchored in the neck and head member I2 of the body so that it opens into the space between the body sections II. The free other end of the tube 28 is securely anchored in the free end portion of the projection 32 of the hand piece 35 at a point spaced from the hand grip 3| by suitable clamping screw or the like 3-3.

The flexible connection or pull cord 28 is. se-

' curely attached at its end that projects beyond the end of the tube that is secured to the object id to an upwardly projected end of the leg-operating lever I 8. At its other end, the pull cord 29 head member ii at 35, as illustrated in Fig. 1,

and rearward pivotal movements thereof are limited to an extreme position wherein the rollerequipped ends of the legs are slightly forward of their respective points of pivotal connection to the body, by'engagement of link 28 with the lower body cross member l3, as illustrated in Fig. 2, so

that the legs are always subject to the weight of the body to be moved thereby under the action of gravity to their extreme forward positions.

A light coil tension spring 36 is anchored at one end to the link 25 and at its other or lower end to a body member H at a point horizontally intermediate the extreme positions assumed by its upper" end under oscillatory movements of the legs and operating connections. This spring maintains the legs and their co-operating connections under light yielding tension to return to an intermediate position, and, therefore, aids inovercoming the inertia of the device when starting the legs in motion from either extreme position, aids in overcoming the weight of the body when starting the legs rearwardly from extreme forward position, and cushions the action of the legs as they approach either extreme position. Anchored at one end to and projecting from an upwardly projected end of the leg-operating leveris, is a tail in the nature of a light coil spring 3?, covered with a suitable flexible material, which will permit flexing thereof under oscillatory movements of the lever 55 when the toy is in operation.

The operation of the device illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, and above just described, may now be apparent but briefly summarized, is substantially as follows: The operator standing at a distance from the toy object iii and holding the hand piece, pistol fashion, in one hand with one 55 finger of that hand inserted through the pull ring 34, will alternately pull on and release the ring 34 in the manner of a trigger, thereby oscillating the legs l4 and l5 between their extreme positions illustrated, the pull applied to the operating connections [6 to 25, inclusive, through the ring-equipped cord 29 and initially aided by the spring 35, serving to move the legs from their normal extreme forward positions to their extreme rearward positions, and the action of gravity initially aided by the spring 35 serving to return the legs to their extreme forward positions.

During the pull action, the flexible tube 28, being substantially non-compressible under the applied compression, will serve as a base of reaction for the body of the object and hold the body stationary in respect to the lever [8. Under rearward pivotal movements of the legs l4 and l 5 the rollers 24, being incapable of rearward rotation over a support, will remain stationary on the support and cause the body to travel horizontally forward in respect to an underlying support and the roller-equipped ends of the legs. When the legs 54 and I5 reach their extreme rear positions, the body of the object IE] will have gained sufficient momentum to overcome the inertia of the 5 then substantially stationary roller-equipped ends of the legs 14 and i5 and the entire object will roll forwardly on rollers 24 over the support a distance determined by the momentum gained by the body during the rearward pivotal movement of 10 the legs. It will now be apparent that under continued oscillatory movements of the legs, the toy object will move progressively forward over a floor or other support. The flexible tube 23, leading to the operators hand, can be several feet long so that the object in can be moved about at a considerable distance from the operator, and in fact, made to run along ahead of and lead the operator.

Referring now to the device illustrated in Figs. '7 20 and 8, wherein the numeral 45 indicates, as an entirety, a toy object shaped to simulate a horse, mounted in a standing position on the back of the object 4! and holding a whip 4i, is a figure 42 representing a rider. The horse-shaped object 45 is made up of pivotally connected front and rear body sections 43 and 44, respectively, and a pivotally movable head section 45.

The rear body section 44 comprises like laterally spaced parallel side members 46, rigidly connected by cross members 41' and each being provided with a rigidly formed leg 48. The front body section 43 comprises like laterally spaced parallel sides 49 rigidly connected by cross members 50 and 5! and'each being formed with a rigid leg 53. The sides 49 of the front body section 43 overlap the sides 46 of the rear section 44 and are pivotally connected thereto at 54 for forward and rearward pivotal movements, one section in respect to the other. Extending between the opposite sides of the front body section 13 and overlapping a portion of the rear body section 44, is a flexible covering 55.

The head section is pivoted between the opposite sides 49 of the front body section 43 at 56 45 for oscillatory movements in respect to the front section 43. Operatively connecting the head to the rear body section are parallel links 51 that are pivotallyconnected to the head 45 at a point 58 radially offset from the pivot point 53 and are pivotally connected to the rear body section 44 at a point 59 radially offset from the points 54 of pivotal connection between body sections. Obviously, with the arrangement described, the head 45 will be moved pivotally up and down under oscillatory pivotal movements of one body section in respect to the other thereof.

The figure 42 is mounted fast on a member 60 that is pivotally mounted at 6| between opposite sides of the rear body section 44 and forms a por- 60 tion of the back of the rear body section. This pivotally mounted member 60 is provided at its under side with a counterbalanced weight 62 that overcomes the weight of the figure 42 and maintains the same in a substantially vertical position 65 under oscillatory forward and rearward pivotal movements of the body sections 43 and 4%. Extending from the rear section 44 is a tail in the nature of, a light coil spring 63 covered with flexible material 64. The legs 53 and 48, like the legs I 4 and I5, of Fig. 1, are provided with roller means capable of rotation over a support in only a forward direction, the rollers, their spindles, journal slots and stop and break members of Fig. '7 being indicated by reference characters like those as-7 signed to like parts in Fig. 1, plus the exponent a.

When the body sections 43 and 44 are pivotally oscillated in respect to one another, the rollerequipped ends of the legs 48 and 53 move alternately toward and away from one another. Under outward pivotal movements of the legs 48 and 53, the rollers 24 of the rear legs 48 will remain stationary on the floor or support while the rollers 24 of the front legs 53 will roll forwardly over the support to an extreme forward pivotal position, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 7. Under reverse or inward pivotal movements of the legs, the rollers 24 of the front legs 53, being incapable of rearward rotation, will remain stationary on the support and the rollers 24 of the rear legs will become free for forward rotation and will roll freely forward over the support so that by the time the legs again reach their innermost positions, see full lines in Fig. '7, the entire object will have moved forwardly over the support a distance equal to the difference in measured distance between the roller-equipped ends of the legs 53 and 48, when in opposite extreme positions.

Obviously, under continuous oscillatory movements of the body sections 43 and 44, the object will move progressively forward, the back and leg motion will be much like a galloping horse, the head 45 will move pivotally up and down, the riding figure 42 will sway slightly but remain substantially in a vertical position, and the tail 64 will swing or sway under oscillation of the body sections.

The toy object 40 is preferably manually operated, in the manner described in connection with the description of Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, through flexible connections like those of. Fig. l and parts of the flexible connections corresponding to those of Fig. 1, are indicated by like characters plus the exponent a. In Fig. 7, one end of the non-compressib-le tube 28 is securely anchored in the cross member of the front body section 43 and the corresponding end of the pull cord 29 is securely attached to a cross member 41 of the opposite or rear body section 44, so that when the cord 29 is pulled through the tube 28 the body sections will be moved from their normal full line positions to their extreme dotted line positions. When the cord 28 is released, the parts are returned to their normal positions by the combined yielding action of gravity and a tension spring 65 secured to opposite body sections. It will be evident that the head 45, being greatly overbalanced, see Fig. 7, will tend to drop under the action of gravity .and this force will be applied through links 51 to the rear section and tend to return the body sections to their normal positions.

While the tube 28 and cord 29 are broken away in Fig. '7, they may be assumed to be provided respectively with a hand piece and a pull ring corresponding to those of Fig. 1.

To prevent the forwardly projecting head 45 from over-balancing the toy object 4!], the rear section 44 is provided with a suitable weight 65.

What is claimed is:

1. In a toy, the combination with a body, of forwardly and rearwardly located pairs of parallel legs pivoted thereto for forward and rearward pivotal movements, means for imparting substantially like and simultaneous oscillatory pivotal movements to the front and rear pairs of legs, all of said legs at their free ends being provided with roller means, and means operative on the roller means of certain of pivoted legs to prevent rearward rotation thereof over a support but permitting free forward rotation thereof over a support so that the roller means will remain stationary on a support under rearward pivotal movements of the legs, thereby causing the forward movement of the body, but will roll 5 forwardly by momentum of the forwardly moving body when the legs reach the extremes of their rearward movements.

2. In a toy, the combination with a body having forwardly and rearwardly located shafts journaled transversely thereof, front and rear pairs of laterally spaced parallel legs mounted fast on the forwardly and rearwardly located shafts, respectively, means for imparting substantially like oscillatory pivotal movements to the shafts and legs comprising levers mounted fast, one on each of said shafts intermediate the opposite legs thereof and a link connecting the levers on the front and rear shafts, said legs at their free ends being provided with roller means, and means operative on the roller means on at least one of said legs to prevent rearward rotation thereof over a support but permitting free forward rotation thereof so that the rollerequipped free ends of the several legs will remain stationary on a support under rearward pivotal movements of the legs, thereby causing the forward movements of the body, but will roll forwardly under momentum of the forwardly moving body.

3. In a toy, the combination with a body, of forwardly and rearwardly located pairs of parallel legs pivoted thereto for forward and rearward pivotal movements, means for imparting substantially like and simultaneous oscillatory pivotal movements to the front and rear pairs of legs, all of said legs at their free ends being provided with roller means, and means operative on the roller means of the several pivoted legs to prevent rearward rotation thereof over a support, but permitting free forward rotation thereof over a support so that the roller means will remain stationary on a support under rearward pivotal movements of the legs, thereby causing the forward movement of the body, but 45 will roll forwardly by momentum of the forwardly moving body when the legs reach the extremes of their rearward movements.

4. The structure defined in claim .1 in further combination with a spring maintaining the several pivoted legs under relatively light tension to return to intermediate positions.

5. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the several pivoted legs are gravity moved to their forward pivotal positions and in which the means for pivotally oscillating the legs includes a remote control device operative to move the pivoted legs in a forward direction only, and in further combination with a spring operative on the several legs and maintaining the same under tension to return to their intermediate positions, but exerting insufficient force to overcome the action of gravity or said remote control device.

6. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the several pivoted legs are gravity moved to ex- 5 treme positions in one direction and in which the means for pivotally oscillating the legs in cludes a remote control device operative to move the legs pivotally in the opposite direction only, and in further combination with a spring operative on the several legs and under tension to return the same to their intermediate positions, but exerting insufiicient force to overcome the action of gravity or said remote control device.

SIDNEY L. LONG. 7 

